Yes, Majesco has considered the fate of living rooms when faced with the threat of NBA Baller Beats, the Kinect game that asks players to dribble a real basketball in time to licensed music. "In NBA Baller Beats, dribbling is and should be contained very close to the body," Majesco's Chief Marketing Officer, Christina Glorioso, told Joystiq in an email interview.
"And in real life too, or the defender will steal it from you!" She said that in QA testing, "if a ball got away, it was more likely a ball rolling out of view of the Kinect rather than a flying object."
You're gonna need all of Majesco's Mamas to help clean up after destroying your living room with the publisher's latest Kinect game, NBA Baller Beats. What in the world is NBA Baller Beats, pray tell? Why it's, "a fun, high energy and first-of-its kind participative basketball video game launching this fall exclusively on Kinect for the Xbox 360," of course! Yes, you read that right: it's a Kinect game played with an actual basketball in your living room.
It looks like Majesco is going all out for this one, with a tracklist featuring the likes of "Kanye West, Run DMC, Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures, Common, Tiesto and more." No word is given on Majesco partnering with any insurance companies alongside the game's launch this fall, but we expect to hear more on that at E3.
This May, Forza Motorsport 4's already crowded virtual garage gets another set of wheels. The Top Gear DLC pack adds 10 new whips for 560 MS Points ($7).
You'll get the usual exotic newcomers, like the '66 Lotus Cortina, along with the '92 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2012 Smart ForTwo and ... a Ford Transite SuperSportVan? And here we thought the station wagon was the king of least thrilling cars in Forza 4. There are several vying for that throne in this very update!
Microsoft has awarded finalist positions to a series of innovative software projects put together by student teams in the US leg of the Imagine Cup awards. The event started in January, and promised to award students - who take on tough social problems with Windows 8 and Kinect on Xbox - with cash prizes, Microsoft hardware, and a sizable donation to their university. Now, students have been sorted out into four teams in each of four categories, and will face off at the world finals in July.
In the Game Design Windows/Xbox category, a team named Dr. Fishbowl made an unnamed game that allows players to create a model of sustainability in an environment that uses limited resources. Team Drexel Dragon won the Game Design Mobile category, with a title called Mash Dash for Windows phones, that helps teach mathematics as you play. And a team called FlashFood (above) won first place in the overall Software Design category, by putting together an app that connects websites and smartphones to help families in need find donated food on a real-time basis.
Other runner-ups include an app that uses a sleeping pad hooked up to a PC and a Windows Phone to help monitor infant health, a mobile game about fighting easily communicable diseases, and a game called Children of War, in which you play as a Ugandan child, sneaking past rebels and other dangers in an attempt to find safety.
It looks like Microsoft may soon make good on bringing its recently acquired Skype services to the Xbox (and presumably Kinect). The company is currently seeking a software development engineer focused on Skype for the Xbox, as spotted by GI.biz. Specifically, the London listing asks for someone with "a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software," which certainly sounds like Xbox dashboard integration.
Whether Skype functionality will replace the Xbox's current chat and video services or simply improve upon them remains to be seen.
Despite being the number one best-selling console in America for fifteen months running, the 360's success wasn't enough to prevent Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division from being the only section of the company to post a year-over-year decline in revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2012.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes Microsoft's gaming businesses and the Windows Phone platform, finished the period ending on March 31, 2012 with $1.62 billion in revenue - a 16 percent drop over the same period in fiscal 2011. During Q3 2012, Microsoft sold 1.4 million 360s, a 48 percent drop year-over-year.
When the entirety of fiscal 2012 is taken into account, however, the Entertainment and Devices Division is actually up as far as revenue is concerned: $7.84 billion so far in fiscal 2012 as compared to $7.42 billion by this time in fiscal 2011. The devision's operation income, on the other hand, is down year-over-year, posting at $627 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2012, compared to $1.24 billion for this time last year.
Otherwise, Microsoft's Q3 performance was strong across all fronts: Overall quarterly revenue rang up at $17.41 billion, a six percent increase over Q3 2011, with a business-wide operating income of $6.37 billion, a 12 percent year-over-year increase.
#wiipop
And what's more, it looks awesome, because instead of just asking players to dance to pop music or sing like a teenage girl, it's asking you to pop, lock and boogaloo your way to awesomeness. More »
Whether by choice or by force, chances are good you've experienced a dancing game by now. Typically, these games ask users to mimic dance moves for points, but WiiPop, created by one Christian "Mio" Loclair, is completely freestyle.
The game achieves this feat by incorporating both body-mounted Wii remotes and the Kinect. Used together, the devices measure how a user moves throughout the dance space and how he or she "pops" to the beat. It's all very amazing and complex and, as such, we suggest you watch the video above for the full rundown.
Two of the kid-friendly Kinect games/apps we caught wind of last October have had their release window specified: Kinect Sesame Street TV will launch in "autumn 2012," according to a tweet from Argonon CEO James Burstall, with Kinect Nat Geo TV launching the very same day this fall, so sayeth C21 Media.
As shown in the trailer above, Kinect Sesame Street TV and Kinect Nat Geo TV are exceedingly educational experiences centered around FMV games, rather than the more traditional graphics found in something like Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. Still, children love Muppets and flailing wildly in living rooms, so combining the two seems pretty logical to us. Just, you know, move lamps out of the way first.
We knew Dragon Ball Z For Kinect (that's the official name!) was going to be a silly experience, since Dragon Ball Z is inherently silly, but we simply were not prepared for the reality of standing still in your living room punching the air.
Even in this trailer, which does its best to make the game look cool and exciting, we can't help but notice the almost total lack of lower body motion as the player punches and occasionally pops a squat. Except, of course, for the infrequent kick out into the air. Meanwhile, as you stand motionless, a dramatic aerial battle is happening on screen, complete with (extra) dramatic dialogue. Y-You monkey!
#cockroachinvasion
People fortunate to survive a stroke face a hard road to recovering their full mental and physical capabilities. Canoeist Sam Chick found himself facing that journey after a stroke rendered the left side of his body immobile 12 years ago. More »
#china
China already has a handful of Kinect inspired game machines. But that's not going to stop it from getting more. The latest is the iGame Move, a console with the tagline "Beauty of China Show the World". More »
We haven't seen the end of Joy Ride, at least not according to the Australian Classification Board. The organization has outed "Joy Ride Turbo" from Microsoft Studios. Exactly what Turbo has to do with Kinect Joy Ride is still up in the air (doing tricks, presumably).
Could Turbo be closer to the original, free-to-play XBLA kart racer that never was? Possibly. Will it be another invisible-steering-wheel Kinect title? Probably.
Months after a Korean rating started us thinking up ridiculous fantasies about Dragon Ball Z Kinect, Namco Bandai has announced the game at a press event in Las Vegas, due in October. Players will get control of over 50 characters (including Mr. Pointyhair, karate guy, green man, and the little one) and perform real DBZ-style moves gesturally.
QR codes will (somehow) be distributed to unlock extra characters, because trying to focus a lamp on a card so the game will read it is a super important part of Dragon Ball lore.
#wreckateer
Here's some video footage of Wreckateer, an upcoming Xbox Live game for Kinect that requires you to smash and destroy castles by moving around your body. I found the game at PAX East last weekend and thought it looked interesting enough to record. There's just something about wanton destruction that tickles that section of my brain that loves to stomp on Legos and fling exploding birds at pigs. More »
The Netflix app for Xbox 360 received an update today that improves some functionality, but ignores some long-standing complaints. You now have the ability to skip forward and back during play for movies and TV episodes, and a zoom function for those with 4:3 screens lets you convert letterbox to full screen.
One other notable tweak is social media integration for Facebook users outside of the States. There's also a single sign-on with cloud profiles, allowing members to access Netflix on another Xbox 360 (like, at a friend's house) with sign-in credentials. Handy!
Filed under "still not fixed": TV episodes still start automatically sans individual episode selection screen, and searching is still done with a string of letters, and not a keyboard interface. Maybe next time?
The Netflix app for Xbox 360 received an update today that improves some functionality, while completely ignoring most things we would notice. Adjustments include the ability to skip forward and back during play through movies and TV episodes, and a zoom function for those with 4:3 screens to convert letterbox to full screen.
Other tweaks include social media integration for Facebook outside of the States. There's also a single sign-on with cloud profiles, allowing members to access Netflix on another Xbox 360 (like, at a friend's house) with sign-in credentials.
Still not fixed: TV episode selection instead of auto-starting shows and lack of Xbox keyboard interface instead of that sloppy search string of letters. Not that we're bitter or anything.
Over the next three weeks, Harmonix hopes to sell you three difficult DLC tracks in Dance Central 2 - well, unless you're some big city kid who's moved to a small town, of course. John Lithgow need not apply.
First up is "We Speak No Americano" from Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP, a "hardcore" routine set to drop on Xbox Live on April 10. Following on April 17 is another "hardcore" number: "Commander" from Kelly Rowland (featuring David Guetta). Finally, on April 24, Pitbull's (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) "Give Me Everything" will be available for download, which is graded "tough."
Each track will be available for 240 MS Points ($3) through Xbox Live Marketplace. Beyond the sample gameplay video above, we've embedded each track past the break for your boogeying pleasure.
#gearsofwar
Around a year ago, we brought you a look at a new Gears of War title being developed at Epic Games and designed to take advantage of Microsoft's Kinect technology. It looked pretty silly, something Microsoft and/or Epic obviously agreed with, because the game - called Gears of War: Exile - sounds like it's ended up in the bin. More »
If you're a Comcast customer, the arrival of HBO Go on Xbox 360 was little more than a tease. Starting next week you'll be able to watch HBO content (see: Game of Thrones) on your Xbox 360. You'll need to use your Xfinity login information to gain access once the HBO Go app is available, which Comcast says should be "early next week."
The latest car to join Forza 4's immense garage is special because you can't buy it yet. If you want to test-drive it in a video game, however, that's entirely possible. Turn 10 Studios has announced the 2013 SRT Viper will be available in the upcoming Viper DLC pack, which has yet to be dated and priced.
#paxeast2012
Shown off at PAX East 2012, this is Crimson Dragon and if it reminds you of a Kinect-based Panzer Dragoon, there's good reason. Not only is Land Ho, which handled the PS2 version of that game, working on this one, Panzer Dragoon's creator, Yukio Futatsugi also is involved. More »
You are McAllister, a living legend in baseball, hunched over on the mound while gripping your lifeless throwing arm one moment after throwing a record-breaking out. Next thing you know, you're in a car accident, and wake up at a demented, run-down amusement park called Queen Christine's Dream Land. There, a man in a suit with the head of a cow explains that you can get your arm back to form by throwing your way to the castle at the end of the park -- while wearing a bionic arm.
This is Diabolical Pitch, the latest XBLA title from Grasshopper Manufacture. As odd as it sounds, what's important to note is that this game is dependent on Microsoft's Kinect peripheral, and every throw by McAllister is a real-life throw by you.
#starwars
What a ridiculous, attention-grabbing headline! Everybody knows game reviewers have already succumbed to the dark side; it's a job requirement. Looking at the scores Kinect Star Wars is pulling in I'm beginning to wonder if there's an even darker side. More »
#steelbattalion
After I played Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor last month at Microsoft's spring showcase, I called it the hardest-core Kinect game yet. More »
#kinect
A group of Japanese researchers is working on a tongue-controlled tech demo to aid those with oral motor function disorders that impacts their ability to speak or swallow—a very admirable goal. More »
A dark, cynical part of us truly enjoys April Fools' day. We already have severe trust issues with the world at large, and one day a year we're allowed to look at every single person with a complete lack of belief or respect and have it be totally normal. We're proud to say that while we watched the above trailer for Assassin's Creed on Kinect, the expression on our faces was absolutely normal.
